Sleep Cage

[ZephyrTK]

Quick question: my bird doesn't ever poop in her sleep cage. Ever.

Is that normal? She's in there for 12 hours.

Anyone else experience this or have any insight/knowledge to share?

Thanks!

 

[ConureLady]

I have one conure that refuses to poop when shes on my shoulder.. she goes hours with out pottying..
the way I changed the behavior was by laying newspaper inside of her normal cage where she normally poops.. everytime i saw that she went, i said good potty.
i then started holding her over newspaper in public and saying go potty.. and she started pottying on trips.
i would recommend doing this, but by putting newspaper in the corner of the sleep cage. it might just be too unfamiliar.. try adding a ladder into the normal cage, my conures potty on the ladder often. and then move the ladder into the sleep cage.

 

[Bobioden]

Birds don't usually poop at night, but boy they will have the poop bomb, the biggest poop of the day first thing in the morning. Maxx knows he can not come out of his cage until he drops his bomb, and then he is free to come out and start his day.

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

In the wild birds will not poop from their nest because when the poop hits the ground the sound alerts the predators to the location of the birds nest. It's very much the same thing in cages. A lot of the time, if it's a smaller cage the bird can not move far enough away from it's nesting area to poop so they hold it in until they get out of the cage. Although is is their natural instinct it can still be dangerous if they hold it too long. If a bird holds in their poop for too long, over a period of time, it can cause a Prolapsed Cloaca. Prolapsed Cloaca: how to prevent and how to treat this condition

 

[ZephyrTK]

We have a routine that when she wakes up we go to her playgym where she makes "big morning poops" and then breakfast in her cage.

I just worried about her holding it. The not pooping where they nest and predators makes sense.

Thank you!

 

[MonicaMc]

I've never had a chance to watch parrots out in the wild, but I believe not pooping in the middle of the night cause it's where they roost or its near their nest is bull. I don't think they go to the bathroom often at night simply because they are sleeping! Nothing more. However, if startled or woken up in the middle of the night, they *will* go to the bathroom.

What makes more sense, at least to me, is for the birds to go to the bathroom prior to taking off, as it gets rid of that "extra weight". A bird who has just woken up and will fly off to forage for food will then probably take a nice big crap near where they were sleeping, if not in the exact same spot!


Anyone have the money to take a trip to go and visit some wild flocks so we can see just what does happen????




Zephyr, I don't believe that parrots need 12 hours of sleep year round... I prefer for my birds to follow the natural light/day, so they may get 8-14 hours of sleep. (obviously, this can't be done in all areas, especially where days or nights are extremely long - i.e. Alaska, for example) Don't know if it makes a difference, but I am over 500 miles north (east-ish) of you. I'm just mentioning this because if someone told you that your bird must get 12 hrs of sleep per night, it's probably false.

If your bird *needs* 12 hours of sleep, that's one thing... but if he/she doesn't need it, then your bird may be fine getting 8-9 hrs (typical sleeping hours of humans), and if he needs a nap, or several, during the day, he can rest for a bit! Birds are very adaptable beings!

 

[ZephyrTK]

Zephyr, I don't believe that parrots need 12 hours of sleep year round... I prefer for my birds to follow the natural light/day, so they may get 8-14 hours of sleep. (obviously, this can't be done in all areas, especially where days or nights are extremely long - i.e. Alaska, for example) Don't know if it makes a difference, but I am over 500 miles north (east-ish) of you. I'm just mentioning this because if someone told you that your bird must get 12 hrs of sleep per night, it's probably false.

If your bird *needs* 12 hours of sleep, that's one thing... but if he/she doesn't need it, then your bird may be fine getting 8-9 hrs (typical sleeping hours of humans), and if he needs a nap, or several, during the day, he can rest for a bit! Birds are very adaptable beings!

Emmy gets quite fussy around 9pm every night. That's when she goes to her sleep cage. She will typically nap in my shirt or under my hands until then. She starts calling around 830a-9a.

I assume since she's young (4 months) she needs more sleep. I typically let her behavior dictate when she sleeps and when she wakes.

 

[MonicaMc]

Emmy gets quite fussy around 9pm every night. That's when she goes to her sleep cage. She will typically nap in my shirt or under my hands until then. She starts calling around 830a-9a.

I assume since she's young (4 months) she needs more sleep. I typically let her behavior dictate when she sleeps and when she wakes.

Glad to know it!

I've never had a young conure before, and my current one would rather stay with me than go to bed!

 

[kitkat135]

I have both a sun conure and a blue crown conure and neither one poops in their night cages. They get between 11-12 hours a sleep a night. They might be awake before I get them up but they don't make any noise. Once in their day cages they both let their big poop go. Now I have had them very rarely have their big poop before I put them in their day cages, so if they have to go I think they will. I have had my blue crown only get about 9 hours and boy was she a grouch by the next evening.

 

[Kantia]

but boy they will have the poop bomb, the biggest poop of the day first thing in the morning. Maxx knows he can not come out of his cage until he drops his bomb, and then he is free to come out and start his day.

Haha, I couldn't have put it better! Tich gets about 11-12 hours sleep and every morning I hold him over a small bin and tell him to 'poo', and it is a big one! But he's not allowed to play or have cuddles until he's done one.

I guess it's kind of like us, we don't usually go at night when we sleep..

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Some of the posts here mention that the birds hold in their poop. I have read over the years that birds do not have the ability to hold in their poop because they lack a sphincter where poop exits.

Can someone clarify this.

 

[MonicaMc]

Can't clarify that, but birds don't go to the bathroom while sleeping... and they can hold it in for 4-12+ hrs... in fact, if a bird is potty trained, and trained too well, they might hold it in for longer than norm and this could potentially cause problems... especially during the day when they should be eating and drinking.

It's like saying that parrots can't talk because they don't have a voice box like us humans do... which is true, they don't have a 'voice box' - but they obviously can talk!

Or that parrots don't yawn because their respiratory system is far superior to ours and the only time you do see a parrot yawn it means they are just readjusting their crop contents (also hogwash).



Now about whether or not parrots fart... I can't say! LOL :18: They can have gas, and it can show up in their droppings in the form of bubbles, so it's assumed that they can indeed 'fart', but no one has really confirmed it.

They say that the silent ones are the deadliest... :33: